Fuel and method of producing same



law for the terminal velocit 'sr 'rEs PATENT curios.

FUEL AND M'ETHQD OFTRODU'CING SAME.

' Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 21, 1921 No Drawing. Original applicationfiled August 5, 191i), Serial 120. 315,497. Divided and this applicaw tion filed May 17, 1920. Serial No. 331,826."

To all whom it may concern: k Be it known that I, LninoN W. BATES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Lebanon, in the county of Columbia and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements'in Fuels and Methods of Producing Same, of which the following is a specification.

carbonaceous substance. any .liquid combustibles are miscible with others, but sev-- eral important classes of such fuelsare'refractor'y to stable combination. Thus, there Y has been an especial desire to obtain a fuel oil suitable for admiralty uses made of adliquid hydrocarbons with .the aid of pulmixture of dehydrated coal tar with mineral petroleum oils. Oils do not ordinarily dis solve or emulsify with such tars and more 'or less rapid separation or uncontrolled stratification has heretofore prevented their combined use as mobile or liquid. fuel: The

- same condition prevails in the'cas'e of other liquids.

In y 315,497, filed on August 5th, 1919, of which this'is a division, the question of stability Wasfully considered in the light of Stokess spherical body in a liquid. r roplets-of one liquid in another liquid with which the first is immiscible or is partially'miscible only,

disclose somewhat similar stability characteristics. There are, however, lesser deviations from Stokess law as the droplets-are nearly spherical, unless the volume of thedisperse phase exceeds 74% of that of the total liquld; Liquid dispersed droplets .are stable in a liquid medium when-.they'ar'e of molecular size or when they are sufficiently within colloidal limits. In the case of an oil emulsion in water the oil. droplets do not separate from the water they are above one micron in size- Stable emulsions may be formed of one part of oil in ten thousand parts of water. Suspension-sized droplets areunstable.

With reference to stabilizing two or more immiscible or partially miscibleliquidhydrocarbons in each other, the interesting scientific fact has been disclosed that the presence of a considerable percentage by .weight of pulverized carbonaceous substance, Without-reduction to collo dal limits articles of. solid copending application, Serial No.

of fall of a" in size, has the efiect, when the componentsare duly mixed, of stabilizing them. In so dolng the particles are themselves stabilized in the liquid.v In such a composite there is no need of either a protective agent or ,a

peptizing agent as defined in my copending application. In ,fact one may omit these agents and still obtain adequate stability. Substances which greatly lower the surface tension of liquid against liquid areadsorbed by these. In a mixture of oil,'tar and pulverized coal, for example, the stabilization .efi'ect of the coal and tar upon eachother'is to'a certain extent reciprocal. Thatis, the coal and the tar together in oil may be stabilized. more readily than either alone.

In relation to stabilizing such immiscible verized carbonaceous substances the per centage of necessary particles varies with the nature and relative. amounts of liquid hydrocarbons. In general, up to about 20% by stabilized in "oil, and larger amounts of the lighter. varieties. F mm 10% to-.30%; of particles will be necessary. From experience, the greatest amount of tar may weight, of total fuel of a heavy tar may be bestabilized in pressure still oil with the aid Texas complying with Navy standards is used the proportion of, coal or other carbonaceous substance to tar has to be inc'reased'and the proportion of coal and'tarto oil has to be decreased. With a parafiin base Navy fuel oil of low viscosity, less tar .than 20% and less coal than 30% can be It is not claimed herein that all immiscible liquid hydrocarbons may be stabilized with Y the aid ofi particles of solids for fuel purposes, but it has been found that such liquid combustibles as mineral oils with coal tars are readily so combined. Liquid hydrocarbons of analogous nature and characteristics,

ally required for stability, the product enjoys a specific gravity above unity.- The particles and droplets themselves remain for the most part well above the colloid. in size. By the term mobile is meant a fuel sufficiently fluid to allow its atomization through burners as liquid fuel is now used.

as creosote, under the heat treatment .de-

By stable is meant non-'separation'of the components suflicient in degree and duration to enable such use of the fuel without resort to continuous agitation or stirring to maintain suspension. Furthermore the stability must be of such a character that there is no undue separation either at normal tem-;

perature around 70 F. or at low temperatures in storage, or at high temperatures, up to 250 F., in the preheater. Simple non-separation at normal temperature or thereabouts is not suflieient if stability does not duly persist when the fuel is preheated preparatory to atomization or conveyance.

By protective agent is meant a substancewhich acts to stabilize in the fashion of the lime-rosin grease described in my said out heat treatment in the manufacture. By

copending application.- The action is conceived to be somewhat analogous to that of a protectivecolloid upon colloids. ()n the other hand by eptizin agent is meant a p g a substance which acts to peptize and stabilizein the fashion of coal 'distillates, such scribed fully in the application aforesaid. The term peptization is used to signify digestion of the particles, that is to say,a partial reduction in size by dissolving and also a spongifying, pitting and cavitating of the particles which promotes stability.-

The carbonaceous particles used in the pres-: ent process should be reduced by pulverization or otherwise to a size such that about 85% would pass a QOO-mesh screen, No

suitablesubstances of such requisite fineness are'found in their-natural state. Artificial reduction is therefore essential. By the term ulverized is meant therefore arti- P a a v.persionjmedium is heavy in regard to vis- Tcosity or fluidity, the immiscible liquid so that the viscosity of the composite will be moderate or low. A product of moderaddedtheretois preferably of low viscosity,

ate or low viscosity is sought as such fuels atomize more readily than those of high viscosity. Thus if a Mexican petroleum residual oil is selected as the dispersion medium, the liquid added thereto should be of low viscosity, such as water gas tar. If'

light pressure still'oil or tar is the base, it

is entirelyproper to combine therewith' a" heavy. coal tar. "In other words, the present method does not rely solely or chiefly upon an increase inthe viscosity ofthe medium produce a composite of less fluidity than that of the liquids used therein, but a stable composite maybe made of moderate visI-.

cosity insufficient per se to prevent sedimentation or separation. In fact the lower the viscosity of the composite, consistent with stability, the superior the fuel for use as liquid combustible. While an increase in viscosity may be resorted toor may occur as a collateral means of promoting stability, it isnot featured herein, and the resent method is independent thereof. As eretofore remarked, stability must persist sufficiently to allow atomization without congestion in the pipes when the viscosity is reduced by heat. Y

The mixing treatment necessary to obtainthe desired stability consists in mechanical blending of the ingredients, with or withmixing thecomponents fora few minutes in an ordinary paint, ball or tube mill or other suitable mlxlng machine, in which no abnormal pressure or high speed need be used, the homogeneous quality is well obtained. The desired homogeneity may also be promoted by piilverizing the carbonaceous substance initially in the liquid hydrocarbons, using a similar type of apparatus, instead of mi'xingthe components after the 'ca-rbonaceoussubstance has already been pulverized. Furthermore, proper diffusion of the particles through the liquid and association therewith, and hence adequate homogenelt-y,

may be obtained by giving the composite a heat or'a heat and mixing tre t, a s ng such a movement of the components as tends to mix and unite them thorou hly. If the heat is raised to between 65 and 95 I]. the homogeneity will become satisfacficlal reductlonto the size mentioned, so-- tory. The duration of the, mixing treatment-.varies with the components and with the stability desired. The introduction of liquid or a blend. The immiseiblef-liquid added thereto may also be of one variety or of several. The particles of ,solids may be coals, cokes, eats, pitches, or lignites, or a mixture of t ese.

The present stabilization process should be carefully distin isl ed, from stabilization by eptization scribed in my copending app ication. -In the present case, it is not necessary to bring into-operation the peptization reaction to stabilize, even if a liquid having peptizing capacities is pres-- ent in the composlte. Thus non-peptizing cokes will serve the stabilizing purpose. Heat is usually required to induce peptization as the capacity isso to speak latent, but there are a few coal derivatives which are active peptizers at normal temperature if time is allowed for them to operate upon the" particles. Some. of the tarsimmiscible with oils possess eptizing qualities, either active or latent.- whether aided by actualpeptization or not. If the components include a peptizer and the carbonaceous particles are susceptible of peptization and heat is employed in the manufacture or long storage'is allowed, par'- tial or proper peptlzation for stability may eventuate, thus collaborating with the present method-in attaining the stability result;

The present method'is independent of peptization and no sole or upon it is herein placed. L

This application is a. division of. my .appli cation Serial No. 315,497, filed August 5, 1919.

Having thus'described thenat'ure' of my invention, what I claim'is:

1; A stable mobile ,fuel containing particles of solid carbonaceous substance and a plurality ofv incompletely miscible liquid" hydrocarbons. Y

2. A mobile atomizablerfuel' of relative stability, heavier than water, consisting of particles of artificially pulverized solid carbonaceous substance-and a plurality of sub-' stantially immiscible -li uid h drocarbons.

'3; A mobile atomizalile fue of relative stability,.heav'ier than water, consisting of particles of-artificia'lly Lpulverized solid carbonaceous substance, with oil and tar which are substantially immiscible together.

he present method will stabilize principal reliance 4. A mobile atomizable fuel heavier than water, consisting essentially of mineral oil, tar substantially immiscible therewith, and an amount of artificially pulverized solid carbonaceous substance which serves to stabilize the tar and the carbonaceous substance in the oil. l i 5. A mobile atomizable fuel heavier than water, which consists; approximately by wei ht of 60% mineral oil, dehydrated coa tar, and artificially puilverized solid carbonaceous substance.

6. That method of combining as a relatively stable atomizable mobile fuel two or more substantially immiscible liquid hydrocarbons, which consists essentially in homogenizing therewith particles of artificially pulverized solid carbonaceous substance.

7. That method of roducin an atomizable mobile fuel of re ativestaiility, which consists in adding to a lurality of substantially immiscible liquid hydrocarbons particles of artificially reduced solid. carbonaceous substance in an amount which raises the specific gravity of the composite above that of water, and homogenizing the components with the addition of substance having stabilizing qualities.

8. That method of producing an. atoniizable mobile. fuel of relative stability, which comprises adding to a plurality of substan-' tially immiscible liquid hydrocarbons particles of artificially reduced solid carbonaceous-substance -.in an amount which raises the specific gravity of the composite above that ofwater, homogenizing the components and eptizing the particles.

' 9. hat method of producing anatomizable mobile fuel of moderate viscosity and 'relative stability, heavier than water, which abov e-that of water, an homo the components until the composite is stabi ized. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. Y

' 5 j LINDON W. BATES. 

